


sometimes, sadness brings upon happiness

by youngtomatoes (orphan_account)



Series: dumb fluffy 5sos oneshots [1]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pet Store, he likes puppies, michael's rly sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 13:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5165171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/youngtomatoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>yes it was 9:46 p.m. on a cold november saturday and yes he was crying so much his nose was leaking and he could barely see anything out of both of his eyes combined and yes he would probably end up being hardcore judged by someone or other. but, unfortunately for his public reputation, he did not care.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>michael is sad so he goes to a pet store.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sometimes, sadness brings upon happiness

michael turned off the car and sat there for a second rethinking things. yes it was 9:46 p.m. on a cold november saturday and yes he was crying so much his nose was leaking and he could barely see anything out of both of his eyes combined and yes he would probably end up being hardcore judged by someone or other. but, unfortunately for his public reputation, he did not care.

he opened the door of his car and pulled his hoodie tighter around his body, tucking his chin into his chest to shield himself from the cold and to hide the sobbing-induced redness of his facial features. it was really cold, too cold for how shitty of a day he'd had. when he reached the door, he took a deep breath before he pulled the handle and heard the bell echo in the mostly-quiet store. he couldn't see a single person from where he was, so he just walked further in until he had a good view of what he came here to see. 

most of the puppies were asleep, which was somewhat surprising if you thought about the fact that michael was more awake than them even though he had a life and they spent theirs inside a small building. he slowly walked down the wall until he stopped at the cage of a german shepard who was chewing at a bone he had between his paws. michael's expression softened instantly when he saw how adorable the dog was. it wasn't fair. this dog had no problems in life, this dog had children admiring it and not wanting to leave it (what a concept, michael thought with a huff), this dog was just so. damn. cute. it really wasn't fair. 

michael found himself crying even harder than he had been before.

due to michael's dazed sadness, he didn't notice the boy behind the puppy's cage who stopped - with a massive bag of food in his hands - when he saw michael. his eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he began to understand some of what was going on. he set the bag down and walked to the nearest door, which he opened slowly so as to not totally alarm michael.

"hello," said the boy, although it sounded sort of like a question. "i'm calum."

michael sniffed loudly and cleared his throat before he softly said "michael" without lifting his head.

calum opened his mouth but decided against it. he needed to think about what he was going to say next.

"would you.... would you like to see sherlock?"

"what?" michael asked incredulously, finally showing his face so calum could see his red nose and watery eyes.

"the dog. his name is sherlock."

michael's eyes lit up a bit (even though it seemed to calum like he tried to not make it obvious that he was excited) and nodded. "yeah, i guess..." he trailed off, his face growing a little redder than it already was.

calum wanted to chuckle at michael's adorable false maturity, but he again decided that would not be the best thing to do. he went to the back and to sherlock's cage, where he smiled at michael who was 'sneakily' looking at him. he grabbed the dog and came back through the door before going to one of the small stalls and setting the dog down.

"put some hand sanitizer on before and after.... it's pretty late but my boss already left so i don't actually have to close at 10:00."

"thank you," michael almost pleaded, as if there was no possible way he could express how grateful he was that this boy - calum - even existed.

"it's no problem. i don't know what's going on, but i hope you can feel better. i need to clean a few things up in the back so i'll be back in a few minutes."

michael sniffed again before he half-smiled and sat down next to the puppy. "hi buddy," he said, before calum turned away and smiled when michael couldn't see him.

\o/

when calum returned, it was to hear loud giggles and the occasional yip from sherlock. he stopped before michael would notice him, and stood on the tips of his toes so he could see the adorable boy laughing and being attacked by the small dog. michael's eyes were still shining from the tears, but there was also some kind of indescribable essence that made his face exert pure happiness. his nose was doing this cute thing where it flared every couple of seconds, and his lips looked a lot prettier than calum remembered them being like ten minutes previous.

and, well, shit. calum had a massive crush on michael.

as much as he wanted to stay and watch michael giggle all night, he figured he should really close the store, so he walked to the stall michael was in and looked down at him with a smile.

"hi," michael smiled up at him as the dog continued to reach for his wild hair (which was blonde and also beautiful, calum felt the need to note).

"hi," calum smiled back. he crossed his arms (which were tan and tattooed and would have been a massive turn on for michael if he weren't in such a childishly happy mood). "is it time for me to go?"

calum grimaced and nodded. "i'm sorry. but you're completely welcome to come back whenever you want and i will always make sure there's a puppy who can bring out that beautiful smile." 

michael blushed, furiously, and hid his resulting smile from calum's view. he stood up with sherlock in his hands and gave him to calum, who took him back to his cage. michael brushed the fur off of his coat and grabbed some hand sanitizer as he was instructed to do. 

he stepped out of the stall and stuck his hands in his pockets awkwardly as calum came to stand in front of him. the latter rocked on his feet and raised his eyebrows as he said, "so?"

"so?" michael copied.

"may i ask what had you seeking comfort from puppies?"

michael's face dropped. "um. my boyfriend- well. ex boyfriend-"

"i'm sorry. i shouldn't have asked."

"it's okay."

"i could be overstepping my boundaries, and i'm sorry if this is way too soon, but he's a total idiot. that's really cliche, but i'm a sucker for cliche cheesy love stories under all my toughness. so. this is for you, and i would really love for you to talk to me when you're ready."

michael looked at the post-it in his hand, which had a phone number printed on it in messy writing. he gaped a little and looked back up at calum, not knowing what to say.

"have a good night, michael."


End file.
